President Lee Jae-myung says the path to winning lies in 'left-elegant persuasion'

President Lee Jae-myung stressed on X (the Twitter-style microblogging platform) on the 11th that "winning a war of words with someone is not truly winning; arguing and persuading with courtesy and 'elegance' is the real path to victory." "If rational, fact-based debate disappears from the public square of democracy, it becomes dangerous," he said, adding that "even if abusive language, profanity, and the spread of fake news on social media offer a momentary thrill, it already means defeat before the judge — the people." President Lee stated, "The essence of politics lies in who wins more empathy and agreement from the sovereign people," and noted that "there are far too many cases of winning battles but losing the war." He urged, "Friends of the President, please protect a clean public square and South Korea's democracy through rational debate." He added, "We are warriors of light who overcame the December 3 insurrection and achieved a revolution of light."

'Jwaahage' is internet slang that replaces the 'u' (woo) in 'woohada' (to be elegant) with 'jwa' (left). When the conservative opposition took issue with his use of the term, President Lee pushed back in a post earlier that day, calling it "one of those playful puns" and saying, "Let us also guard against excessive seriousness."

The same day, President Lee also posted a message outlining policy direction on his social media. Sharing news reports that the government had signaled opposition to introducing a nuclear-based direct power purchase agreement (PPA) system, he said, "It is wise to be cautious about the exceptional privilege in which the public bears the risks and social burdens of nuclear power, while only a handful of conglomerates in a specific industry monopolize the profits." He added, "If preferential treatment is granted to one steelmaker, other companies are likely to demand the same."

Through a series of posts on X that day, President Lee directly presented two agendas to the public: fostering a culture of democratic public discourse and guarding against special favors for the nuclear industry.